The Gloomy Castle
by Zokolov
Summary: After Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, Cortex returns home to plan the destruction of Crash Bandicoot...and world domination, of course. Rated K plus, just in case.
1. Prologue

**THE GLOOMY CASTLE**

_A/N: This story takes place after Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. I don't own Crash Bandicoot. Some of the descriptions are from Crash Mania. Short, I know. But this is just the prologue. The actual beginning of the story is coming almost immediately._

_May 20th, 2011 update: I noticed that the word "N. Gin" was missing was almost chapter, causing phrases like "!" said Cortex. Apparently, you have to put a space after the period in the word "N. Gin", otherwise it won't show. Great. This story has been virtually unreadable for four years. I can't believe I noticed it just now. Well, I fixed it, but... enjoy!  
_

Prologue

It was a dark and rainy night on Cortex Island. This was nothing new, though. The island didn't look too nature appealing or nature-friendly. The owner of the island, Doctor Neo Cortex, has overran the island with toxic waste and metal fortresses. The most noticeable part of the island was the enormous castle on top of a mountain. This castle was rumored to be over a 100 years old, but it was taken over by Doctor Cortex a few years ago, since nobody used it anyway. Even the castle has lost its pride over the years. Several explosions had crippled the castle from many places, and the rightmost tower was almost completely burned down. This tower was once the base of operations for Doctor Neo Cortex and Nitrus Brio in their evil plans.

A short, balding, middle-aged man was walking toward the castle. He was probably the only creature who lived on the island. He wore a labcoat, and carried a small raygun. While walking in the rain, the man tripped over and landed on a mud puddle. When he got up, he wiped the mud off the giant N on his forehead.

"Oh how I hate bandicoots" he muttered.

One could not guess that this man was an evil genius. This man was the owner of the island, Doctor Neo Periwinkle Cortex. But how did this man got into this situation? Let's take a recap:

About a year ago, Doctor Neo Cortex and his right-hand man Nitrus Brio started working on World Domination. Brio had no idea that Cortex was working under the orders of the evil witchdoctor, Uka Uka. Doctor Brio had created the Evolvo-Ray. Its basic function was to alter any living creature's genetic structure to make it more human-like, and also to increase its intellectual capacity tremendously. With the Evolvo-Ray, Cortex and Brio created several mutants, like Koala Kong, Ripper Roo and Pinstripe Potoroo. But creating one mutant proved to be a mistake. Crash Bandicoot was supposed to be the general of Cortex's commandoes. But when he was about to be inserted to the Cortex Vortex (a machine that would turn anyone to one of Cortex's mindless slaves) he was rejected by the machine, and Cortex threw him out of the window like garbage. Little did he know that Crash Bandicoot became Cortex's worst enemy. Crash Bandicoot defeated all of Cortex's minions, and burned down the tower of Cortex's castle.

A year later, Cortex had constructed a yet another master plan. Together with his new right-hand man, Doctor N. Gin, Cortex built another Cortex Vortex. This machine could turn everyone on the face of the Earth into Cortex's mindless slaves. Of course a machine that needs a lot of energy to work. To complete their plan, Cortex and needed the Master Crystal (which Cortex already had) and 25 additional Slave Crystals, that were scattered around the archipelago. Since the few robots that Cortex built had gone berserk, he didn't have any earthbound operatives left. Cortex decided to send Crash Bandicoot to do the dirty work for him. Of course Cortex didn't know that Nitrus Brio, his former ally, did everything he could to stop Cortex's plan. He sent his own mutant minions to stop Crash and Cortex. Despite this, Crash managed to collect every crystal and send them to Cortex. But after realizing his plan, Crash also stopped him. When Cortex was stopped, Crash collected 42 gems and brought them to Brio, who used his laser to destroy the Cortex Vortex.

After Cortex's space station was destroyed, a piece of the station crashed to an ancient temple prison. As a result, Cortex's sinister boss Uka Uka was now free. After Uka Uka heard that Cortex's last plan had failed, Uka Uka decided to gather the 25 crystals and 42 gems from their original places. To do this, Uka Uka asked an old friend, Doctor Nefarious Tropy, to construct a time machine. With this Time Twister, the trio decided to use the crystals and gems to power up the third Cortex Vortex. But Crash, his sister coco and Uka Uka's twin brother Aku Aku found all the jewels before Cortex's minions, and Cortex was defeated once again. Because of a malfunction of the Time Twister, Cortex, Uka Uka and N. Tropy were sent to the stone age. And if that wasn't enough, Cortex and were turned into babies. Thanks to , they managed to get back to their own time.

Of course after returning, Cortex landed on the ocean, and had to swim to his island. But it was worth it. He was finally home, and had a new plan. This time, he wouldn't fail.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One: "Henchmania"

From the outside, the Cortex Castle seemed like a dark, scary castle. From the inside...it looked like a dark, scary castle as well. The yard was full of carnivorous plants and deactivated robots. The lower floors of the castle were pretty much similar. The floor of evvery corridor was covered with a long red carpet, and some of the corridors were infected with giant spiders. There were bedrooms and dining rooms too, but they weren't in use. Since all of Cortex's lab assistants were berserk, no one was there to take care of the castle. That's why it was slowly deteriorating. The only place that was in use was the long tower on the left side of the castle.

The yellow-skinned mad scientist, Doctor Neo Periwinkle Cortex, was on his way to the tower. He used his own personal elevator, which was hidden even from his own henchmen. Even though the other parts of the castle were rather ancient, this tower was filled with technical contraptions and complicated machinery. Doctor Cortex now moved toward his desk and activated his computers. As soon as he turned them on, 's intimidating face appeared on the screen.

Doctor N. Gin was once respected in the scientific community. Due to a budget-cut, one of his missile projects went terribly wrong, and a missile got stuck in his head. Doctor N. Gin then constructed a life-support system, so he could live with the missile. On the other hand, half of N. Gin's face was now metal, and his voice became robotic. was even shorter than Cortex, and he had a lab coat with shoulder pads and a messy, red hair.

"Doctor Cortex!" N. Gin greeted "You made it back to the castle!"

"No thanks to you, anyway!" Cortex said "Now, look. Get your metal behind over here so we can form another plan!"

"Uh...yes, m'lord. But shouldn't we wait for Uka Ukas orders?"

"Hmm...that reminds me...have you heard anything about Uka Uka?"

"Not a word" N. Gin sighed. "He might have been trapped to a some kind of parallel dimension."

N. Gin obviously tried to look sad, but Cortex couldn't see any sorrow on his face. Like Cortex, N. Gin was obviously relieved that their master wasn't giving them orders anymore.

"What about the others?" Cortex asked. "Tiny? Dingodile? N. Tropy?"

"Well...I managed to get Tiny and Dingodile back, but...N .Tropy is gone too. And with all due respect, Doctor Cortex...I don't think he wants to work with us anymore..."

"What do you mean, you fool?" Cortex snarled "Who wouldn't want to work with the greatest living scientist in the world?"

"Uh...yes, it's a mystery..." N. Gin said quietly. "Anyway, we'll be coming there soon..."

"Good. And you better hurry! It's...lonely out here..." Cortex whimpered and looked around the dark castle.

As Cortex closed his computer, he wandered around the castle. _How did I end up in this situation_, he thought. _I am a genius, after all. I had the perfect plan in my hands, but it was ruined. If it wasn't for that Brio..._Cortex paused. Blaming his former henchman didn't work either...Cortex knew that creating Crash Bandicoot was his idea...

But something had to be done. Cortex couldn't deal with the fact that there would be something wrong in his plan. He needed a scapegoat. His henchmen? No, he had blamed them far too many times. _It's this darn castle_, Cortex thought. _Yes, that's it. I can't work in this environment. That reminds me...how did I get this castle in the first place..._

Ten years earlier...A much younger Neo Cortex was walking around on the second, unnamed island on the archipelago. The younger Cortex did have more hair and less beard, but otherwise, he looked exactly like he does now. He ended up getting lost in the jungle, and ended up to the entrance of an ancient temple. The entrance was sealed, so nobody could enter it. Cortex didn't have time to question why, he was busy being angry and frustrated.

"Stupid island. Stupid jungle. Stupid wildlife" he mumbled while trying to get rid of the bugs surrounding him.

Cortex sat down on the ground and continued mumbling.

"How can I get revenge on the people who mocked me...There must be some way..."

All of the sudden, Cortex heard a strange voice, echoing inside his head:

"_I can sense that you need my assistance..."_

Cortex screamed and jumped up. He nervously looked around him, but didn't see anyone.

"_I am over here. Look behind you."_

Cortex heard the voice again. He slowly turned around, but didn't see anything else than the entrance of the locked temple.

"_I am locked inside this temple. My feeble twin brother has locked me here. He doesn't approve me trying to take over this miserable planet. I am the almighty Uka Uka. I used to live on the island as a witchdoctor, and I constantly seek to challenge my brother. Before I died, I was able to transfer my spirit into a mask. I have been trapped inside this temple prison for years. And you wish to shut those know-it-alls up once and for all, right?"_

"How did you know that?" Cortex asked, growing more and more interest to the spirit who was communicating with him.

"_I just happen to know. If you truly want to be the best scientist of them all, you need act like it. Look over there, to that island in the south!"_

Cortex turned and saw the silhouette of the third island of the archipelago. The most recognizable part of the island was the huge castle.

_"Your first task is to get that castle! Buy it, take it over, whatever it takes. That castle happens to have a very special power source. This power source is necessary for us to rule the world!"_

"Rule the world? Y-you mean it?"

"_Of course I mean it. When you get that castle, come back here and I will give you further instructions. And if you don't return...I won't be responsible for my acts!"_

Later, in the present Cortex Castle. Doctor N. Gin, Tiny Tiger and Dingodile had arrived. Tiny Tiger was a muscular, bipedal thylacine with spiky shoulder pads. Tiny was never considered to be the smartest one in the bunch, but he was fiercely loyal to Cortex. Dingodile was also a mutant, who was evolved by Cortex. He was created by fusing a dingo and a crocodile. Unlike Tiny, Dingodile was a rather intelligent, and spent his free time reading Shakespeare. Also, unlike Tiny, Dingodile lacked physical strength, but carried around a large flamethrower. These henchmen had now formed a row in front of Dr. Cortex.

"Now, I invited you three here to come up with a good plan!" Cortex said.

"Eh...doc? We live here too!" Dingodile said, but Cortex ignored him.

"Now, I know we recently had trouble with some little marsupial-"

"You mean Crash?" N. Gin asked.

Cortex sighed and covered his face with his arms.

"Oh my aching head...YES, I MEAN CRASH!" Cortex yelled "We need to come up with a plan! A plan that even Crash Bandicoot can't destroy!"

Everyone was quiet and was staring at Cortex.

"I'm open to ideas..." Cortex said.

"TINY CAN SQUASH BANDICOOTS! LIKE THIS!" Tiny roared, lifted Cortex and smashed him to the brick wall.

"Thank you for the...demonstration, Tiny..." Cortex groaned "but we need to come up with something _smarter_, if you know what that means! I see why you were a complete failure!"

Tiny looked sad and scared at the same time, worrying that Cortex would shoot him with his blaster gun again.

"Anyone else?" Cortex enquired.

"Well, I have-" Dingodile started, but was interrupted by Cortex.

"Not you! N. Gin, what do you suggest?"

N. Gin looked completely oblivious for a while, staring at the opposite direction.

"N. GIN!"

N. Gin flinched and looked at Cortex.

"Sorry, Doctor Cortex, I wasn't listening..." he said.

Cortex was soon he would lose control of himself very soon. He turned his back on his henchmen and started to walk around the room, randomly yelling insults at his henchmen. A few minutes later, he stopped.

"Well, it looks like just have to...give up!" he finally said.

"HEY! DOC!" Dingodile yelled.

"What is it?"

"I have a plan, mates. When I ended up on dat 2nd Island, I heard about this treasha! It's hidden in the mine under the island. I heard yer Power Gems are dere too!"

Everyone was quiet and stared at Dingodile.

"Huh? Tiny no understand!" Tiny said.

"Somebody translate that for me!" Cortex said.

"Doctor Cortex! I think he meant that there are Power Gems in the mines under the 2nd Island!" said "But the mines are also the home of the Komodo Brothers!"

"So?" Cortex asked.

"Well...they might not like if we steal their Gems..."

"Nonsense!" Cortex said "We need them more than they do! Besides, we are desperately in need of a new base..."

"Maybe we should build a space station." N. Gin suggested.

"A space station? Been there, done that!" Cortex said. "Besides, don't you play video games? In the end, the evil space station always explodes."

"Uh...Alright..." N. Gin said "But what about going after the treasure? We can't defeat the Komodo Brothers that easily..."

"We need some additional muscle, don't we?" Cortex asked and chuckled.

Tiny, Dingodile and N. Gin obviously didn't understood what Cortex meant, but Cortex had already formed a plan. This time, no brainless marsupial, an incompetent henchman or a minor malfunctioning would ruin his scheme.

To be continued...

_A/N: Yes, I know, I didn't do so well on Dingodiles accent. Nevertheless, I tried my best. Review if you have time._


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: "I have a cunning plan..."

After deciding to infiltrate the lair of the Komodo Brothers, Cortex had to contact every possible goon on the Wumpa Islands. But getting help wouldn't be easy. Many people were afraid of the Komodo Brothers, what Cortex failed to understand. He had only seen them in action once, and it wasn't too great. They were basically just standing still and throwing swords at Crash Bandicoot. But then again, Cortex's own henchmen weren't that competent either.

"Doctor Cortex!"

A scary, mechanical voice woke Cortex from his daydreams.

"N. Gin!" Cortex gasped "Don't ever do that again!"

"I'm sorry, m'lord...I just wanted to inform that I did a search on people who could help us!" N. Gin said. "I also emailed them, and I am waiting for their response."

"Well, what kind of minions you came up with?"

"Well, I already received a reply from Koala Kong" N. Gin said "and he said that he would help us!"

"Oh, great... Another brainless goon..."

Cortex's eyes met Tiny, who was sweeping the floor. Unfortunately, with the wrong end of the brush.

"I also contacted the following people: Pinstripe Potoroo, Papu Papu, Doctor Nefarious Tropy, Rilla Roo and the Bearminator" continued.

"Rilla Roo? Bearminator? I never heard of those..." Cortex said.

"Well, according to one of my colleagues, Rilla Roo is a runaway mutant. He is the combination of a gorilla and a kangaroo. Bearminator, on the other hand, is an evolved polar bear. He ran off as well, and is now using a submarine. He was last sighted nearby the 2nd Island."

"That's good...What about the others?"

"They haven't replied yet" N. Gin said "but I'm sure we have plenty enough people for our expedition!"

"Yes...Once we have the Power Gems, we will have more energy than anyone else! We can cause global chaos...And wipe Crash Bandicoot off the face of the Earth FOREVER!"

Cortex chuckled to himself for a while. He thought about all the possibilities. _How should I destroy those Bandicoots?_ Cortex thought. _Maybe I could construct a giant laser and use it to destroy N. Sanity Island...No, I'll order N. Gin to create an indestructable mech! No wumpa fruits could penetrate the armor that we could create with the Power Gems! Or then..._

"Doctor Cortex?"

Cortex was once again snapped into reality by N. Gin.

"What?"

"When I searched for evil goons, I came across one familiar name..." N. Gin said. "It was...It was..."

"WHO?"

"Er...Doctor Nitrus Brio?"

Brio...That name made Cortex shudder.

"Brio? BRIO? Are you insane? If you remember, it was Brio who destroyed our space station!" Cortex yelled.

"I know that, m'lord...but if we unite our forces with Brio, we are able to defeat the Komodo Brothers!"

"No!" Cortex said firmly "Absolutely not! I had enough trouble with him the last time we were in contact!"

"Well, it was just a thought..."

"Don't ever think about again!" Cortex said "And now, get Tiny and Dingodile ready! We'll start our voyage tomorrow!"

The following morning...

Since Cortex wanted to leave room for the Power Gems, he had Tiny to carry the things he needed. Cortex packed his trusty raygun, plenty of ammo for it and his hoverboard. Tiny also carried the stuff the others needed: a wumpa fruit bazooka, a pair of shoes and a couple of small missiles and a launcher. They also packed plenty of wumpa fruit, since those things were tasty, and could also be used as ammo. Dingodile, on the other hand, carried his flamethrower.

Cortex, N. Gin, Tiny and Dingodile left the castle, and saw that there was a small group waiting for them at the yard. One of them was Doctor Nitrus Brio, a tall, bald and skinny scientist with two bolts on both sides of his head. With him, was also Ripper Roo, the insane mutant kangaroo wearing a straitjacket, Rilla Roo, the gorilla-kangaroo hybrid and Koala Kong, the enormous evolved koala.

There were also several human-like creatures behind Brio. They were short, and wore gasmasks and odd rubber outfits. Cortex walked up to Brio.

"Brio" Cortex said bluntly.

"Cortex" Brio replied. "A-and b-before you start, we will do things the fair way this time. We g-get half of the Power Gems, heheh...!"

"Hmm, whatever" Cortex said. "And you swear that you don't tell _anyone_about our little voyage!"

"S-sure. And may I introduce you to my...m-minions, ehehe hehe! Of c-course you all know Ripper Roo and K-koala Kong...And t-this is Rilla Roo, hmm!"

Brio pointed at the gorilla-kangaroo hybrid. The creature didn't talk, just jumped up and down and stared at Cortex and the others.

"That guy creeps me out!" Dingodile whispered to Tiny.

"And what are _those_!" Cortex said, pointing at the short creatures in odd outfits.

"T-those are my drones. No, they're not humans, hehe hehe. They are part r-robots, part m-mutants. T-they do the dirty work for me, hehheh." Brio said and snickered.

"Hmm...Looks like you came prepared...Very well. Shall we start?" Cortex asked.

"If I may a-ask, how are we g-going to get to the 2nd Island, hmm?" Brio asked him.

"We'll take that!"

Cortex pointed at the large submarine, merging from the ocean. It was heading toward Cortex Island, and it was piloted by Bearminator, the enormous, fierce-looking polar bear. He, too, was a mutant who had human-like intelligence. The submarine stopped at the beach.

"All aboard!" Cortex said.

Later, inside the submarine, everyone took their places and sat on the sofas. Cortex and N. Gin sat on the corner sofa, as far as possible from Brio and his goons.

"Now, listen up!" Cortex whispered to N. Gin. "I don't trust Brio! Don't you have one of your mechs on the 2nd Island?"

"Oh yes, my lord!" N. Gin said, talking as quietly as he could, although his robotic voice wasn't hard to hear. "While I was constructing my first mecha, I made another one on 2nd Island, just in case. I haven't used it all!"

"Good." said Cortex "When we arrive, I want you to go get it, and bring it to the mines. When we get the Power Gems, obliterate Brio and his goons while I escape."

"While you escape, m'lord?" N. Gin said. "I don't understand."

"I? Did I say...'I'?" Cortex said nervously. "Of course I meant 'when _we_ escape'! I wouldn't leave my best henchmen there to die...Hehe..."

"Alright!" N. Gin said "Are you going to make it, doctor?"

"Of course!" Cortex snapped. "I am Doctor Neo Cortex! I can make it against these clowns!"

"Cortex!"

Cortex's and N. Gin's conversation was interrupted by Brio. Everyone was staring at the corner where Cortex and N. Gin sat.

"What is it?"

"I was just informed that you are going to infiltrate the fortress of the Komodo Brothers, and steal the Power Gems from them. You don't have a plan. If I may suggest-"

"No you may not!" Cortex interrupted. "Of course I have a plan! But I'm not going to tell it now. Someone might be...eavesdropping!"

"Fine." Brio said. "I'm sure you are capable of leading us safely into the fortress."

Cortex could sense the sarcasm from Brios tone, but he ignored that. _Who does that cocky buffoon think he is?_ Cortex thought. _When I rule the world, cocky troublemakers like that will be the first ones who go!_ The submarine was slowly heading toward the 2nd Island. But little did they know, that someone in the 2nd Island was watching them. Standing on a cliff was a beautiful, female mutant bandicoot, and a male mutant potoroo. The girl bandicoot had tall blonde hair, and the mutant potoroo had a purple, pinstripe suit and a fully loaded Tommy Gun. The girl bandicoot, Tawna, was watching the submarine with her binoculars.

"Pinstripe, honey. I see something!" Tawna said.

"What? Where?" Pinstripe said and took the binoculars. "A submarine. That must be Cortex. The only other human inhabitants are the tribesmen, and they use canoes! Thanks, Tawna. I love ya!"

"What do you want from Cortex, hun?" Tawna asked. "He's such a freak."

"He is, love, he is!" Pinstripe said, still watching the approaching submarine. "But this time, he's chasing something big. His goon, , contacted me a little while ago. He wouldn't ask me, if he wasn't after something big. He knows that I'm not working for him anymore, and he knows that I wasn't inserted to the Cortex Vortex..."

"Maybe it's some kind of treasure?" Tawna suggested.

"Whatever it is, I want it. With it, we can buy whatever we want. And we can move away from this lousy archipelago. We'll move to Chicago! I'll be a chauffeur for the big mafia guys!"

"You just love those cars!" Tawna said. "But do you love me?"

"Sure, love, sure!" Pinstripe said. "And don't forget guns. Maybe I'll also be a bodyguard!"

Tawna sighed. The submarine was still approaching, and the people inside had no idea that they were being watched.

To be continued...

_A/N: Here's the second chapter. As for the third one, I don't know. I'll be away from town for three weeks, so I won't be updating. I will read my reviews if I can access a computer. But unfortunately, it's impossible for me to continue the story before I return. In the next chapter: Papu Papu and will also appear! Stay tuned. Reviews will be appreciated._


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